Rwandan coffee tasting a chance to raise funds for flood relief

Paul Harris (with hat) and David Morgan talk visitors through the Rwandan coffee production process. Photo / Bevan Conley

Two Whanganui baristas - The Village Snob's Paul Harris and David Morgan from Origins Cafe - are helping raise money for flooding that hit the African nation Rwanda in May.

Harris and Morgan held a Rwandan coffee tasting at Article on Sunday, allowing locals to try six different blends.

The Nyabihu district of Rwanda, home to the Shyira and Vunga washing stations, was hit by severe flooding and landslides, with 28 deaths recorded and significant damage to property.

Harris said Rwanda only grew Red Bourbon coffee, with six different blends on show on Sunday morning.

"Red Bourbon is an Arabica, which most people would be familiar with, but Red Bourbon itself is a sub-variety, of which there are thousands," he said.

"However, Arabica is not genetically diverse, so everything comes back to that same genealogy."

Factors such as climate change, disease, and drought caused coffee production in Rwanda and neighbouring Burundi in 2018 to fall by 40 per cent, Harris said.

"Devastating floods and landslides which have caused the loss of life and severe damage have by no means helped their cause."

Paul Harris prepares coffee samples, under the watchful eye of Jaz Doyle. Photo / Bevan Conley

The first round of the coffee tasting involved the aroma of each blend, before attendants sampled each one with a spoon and glass.

"There are usually two and up to five, samples of each blend," Harris said.

"The reason for that is because it's very much a natural process, you can variations between each one.

"That makes it easier to identify defects, and that's what coffee is scored on."

David Morgan said the "crust" on top of each sample should be broken and pushed away before tasting.

"That allows you to fully experience the aroma."

Local barista Jaz Doyle said the blends she had sampled were "fruity and nutty", with some stronger than others.

"There are different processes involved in coffee production," Doyle said.

"When you're drying the coffee cherry they can go through a natural fermentation process, or they get washed and held, which gives it a crisper, cleaner taste.

"The fermentation process gives you a stronger, fruitier flavour, and altitude has a big effect on taste as well."

Harris said that "phase one" of the Rwandan flood relief had since been completed, with over US$40,000 being raised globally so far.